Paper folding fruit-box.



.No. 807,238. PATENTED DEG.1'2,1905

I E. w. BREWER. PAPER FOLDING FRUIT BOX.

APPLICATION FILED BEPT. 3, 1904.

@ hwvewem W, 7 Mrzwdagi 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY W. BREWER, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MONAROH FOLDING BOX COMPANY,

PAPER FOLDING FRUIT-BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Application filed September 3, 1904. Serial No. 223,205.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY W. BREWER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper Folding Fruit-Boxes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide a collapsible two-piece berry-box, of strawboard or analogous material, the bottom and side walls of which are capable of being separately packed and shipped, and when assembled they combine toform a stiff rectangular package, said bottom and body being primarily separable, another object being to produce a paper box which is capable of being used more than once by pushing out the bottom when it has become damaged from use and replacing it with a duplicate piece which is of small cost in comparison to the side walls. This is desirable, as in practice it has been found that the bottom of a paper box of this character is subject to the greatest strain,

owing to the weight of the fruit and its tendency to saturate with acids even though the material is subjected to a bath of moistureproof material.

My invention also consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of' showing the bottom in position to be pushed into place, and Fig. 3 is a view of side walls flattened out for'shipment with the bottom removed. Figs. 4 and 5 are views of the sidewall and bottom blanks, respectively.

Both in the box trade and among shippers of small fruit the demand for a folding box manufactured of strawboard is well established owing to the constantly-increasing scarcity of the wood from which the boxes have previously been made and also for the reason that these boxes cannot be shipped to the growers economically in their completed state, but must be stapled or tacked by the purchaser, thereby causing much trouble and expense. To produce a folding box of strawboard, the difliculty has been that they are not of suflicient strength, owing to the acids in the fruits soon saturating and softening the material, and also the assembling of this class of box, which heretofore has had acomplicated locking device, requires a skilled operator to adjust.

The difficulties of producing a folding or knockdown oox of strawboard referred to above are entirely eliminated by my invention, which, with reference to the accompanying drawings, I will now describe in detail.

A represents the side walls bent at right angles from a single piece and having their ends secured by staples a, or they may be glued or otherwise fastened. The lower edge of said piece is inwardly folded upon itself to form pockets B, which are preferably secured in their corners to the side walls A by gluing or any suitable fastening device. These pockets givethe desired rigidity to the box where it is subjected to the greatest strain and at the same time serve as a channel into which the downturned flanges'b of a bottom O are forced. The latter is made to fit tight and rests upon. the upper edge of the pockets B and when in position serves to draw the side walls together and stiffen the entire box when filled withfruit. As best illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the corners of the bottom are cut off,

together with a portion of the flanges b, for

the purpose of ventilating the box and also to permit the said flanges to straddle the corners of the pockets B and, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to guard against any possibility of the bottom O being pushed up after it is inserted into position. I have provided the side walls A with a slight inward head 0, over which the bottom O is crowded just before it comes to rest upon the upper edge of the pocket B. The sidewalls are preferably cut from a stock of lighter grade than the bottom pieces, and for-shipping the latter after having their flanges 6 turned they are nested together, while the side walls after being stapled are piled flat, as shown in Fig.

3, and thus when it is desired to assemble them it is only necessary to pull the side walls out and then insert the bottom O by first placing one of its flanges 6 into a pocket B and then push said bottom down until all the flanges enter their respective pockets.

, that no slight pressure beneath the bottom when a berry-picker is filling it will displace it from its seat. I overcome this defect by the beading 0 above referred to, which is an important feature, as is also the cut corners, which serve the double purpose of vents and also permit the flanges Z) to straddle the corners, and by the peculiarities of construction described it will be seen that I have produced a box which may be used indefinitely by the purchaser, who is provided with several bottom pieces with each body portion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a two-piece collapsible box, a rectangular side-Wall strip having its lapped ends riveted together, and provided with an upward inturned .edge whereby pockets are formed, means for securing said pockets to the corners of the side walls of saidwstrip, whereby the latter is strengthened, and a separable rectangular bottom-piece having downturned edges and angular-cutcorners, whereby when said bottom-piece is pushed into place, vents are formed between said bottom and corners of the said walls, substantially as set forth,

2. A two piece rectangular strawboard folding box having its side walls upturned inwardly whereby a pocket is formed at the lower edge of each wall thereof, means for securing said pockets at the corners of said walls, and a detachable rectangular bottom having downturned flanges fitted into said pockets, the said flanges and bottom being cut away at the corners thereof whereby vents are formed in the bottom of the box, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY W. BREWER.

Witnesses:

MARGARET MALLoY, EARL PETERSON. 

